Generations of Catholics who embraced the modernizing tide sparked in the 1960s by Vatican II are increasingly giving way to religious conservatives who believe the church has been twisted by change, with the promise of eternal salvation replaced by casual indifference to church doctrine.
Pope Francis has written to a group of parents of LGBTQ persons, responding to their criticism of a Vatican document that condemned gender theory and gender-affirming surgeries. He told them he received their critique with an "open heart."
"We love this church, we love our Catholic faith," but "personally, professionally and ministerially, we are concerned with Dignitas Infinita's statements on gender theory and sex change," they write.
Pope Francis has written to a group of parents of LGBTQ persons, responding to their criticism of a Vatican document that condemned gender theory and gender-affirming surgeries. He told them he received their critique with an "open heart."
The most important outcome of the current Synod of Bishops on synodality is the synodal process itself and not the hot-button topics discussed, Pope Francis said.
"Father Justin" debacle makes Rebecca Bratten Weiss "wonder whether some Catholics would be more likely to welcome a robot pope overlord than they would be to accept a woman in a position of ministerial leadership."
Tackling matters that are the topic of political debates today, the new Vatican document Dignitas Infinita, or "Infinite Dignity," drew more controversy than intended.
Pope Francis signed a letter on synodality in the presence of parish priests and urged them to be "missionaries of synodality," said several of the priests present.
"Here, then, is the great enemy of faith: it is not intelligence, it is not reason, as, alas, some continue obsessively to repeat," Francis said. The enemy is "simply fear."
Bangladesh's tiny Catholic community is responding to environmental degradation in the country with conservation efforts by groups who have been inspired by Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si'.
A shareholder's resolution led by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace calls for Citigroup to examine its efforts to respect the human rights of Indigenous people in the projects it finances and invests in.
St. Teresa of Kolkata Parish houses the Diocese of Pittsburgh's only care for creation group. Its resources fair April 27 explored ways people can live more in line with Laudato Si'.
Amid severe floods in Kenya, rescue operations were continuing April 29 as the death toll surpassed 120 people due to excessive rains and floods linked to the continuing El Nino phenomenon in East Africa. Archbishop Anthony Muheria of Nyeri appealed for humanitarian support to aid thousands of displaced people.
Louise Archambault's film "Irena's Vow" tells the true story of Irena Gut, a devout Polish Catholic who risked her life by hiding 12 Jews in the basement of a Nazi major's residence where she was a housekeeper.
What St. Ignatius of Loyola insists — and what Bluey's father, Bandit Heeler displays — is that when in a state of spiritual desolation, making a rash decision is never the answer.
The Hero and the Whore: Reclaiming Healing and Liberation through the Stories of Sexual Exploitation in the Bible asks readers to shed the patriarchal lens through which most of us have read and studied the Bible.
"Sometimes I wish for a more obvious God, who brings only good things into my life and saves me from pain and trial and erases my wounds," writes Sr. Stephanie Peirolo. "I know it is more complex than that."
The Life - This month, we ask our panelists: "When we stop doing, we ask ourselves, who are we? When you are not working in your ministry, who are you?"
Doreen Ajiambo and Global Sisters Report were honored May 3 as first runner up in the Annual Journalism Excellence Awards, presented by the Media Council of Kenya during World Press Freedom Day.
